MY IDEA:
So, long story short, my boyfriend has joined a forum to help him quit dipping (gross, so glad he is quitting). In his forum, they have a "role call" to hold each other accountable. In this "role call" they add their name to a list, and either how many days they have gone with out dipping or admitting if they broke down and gave in.
Obviously, there is no need to hold each other accountable here, its not that kind of forum, but I was thinking we could do something like this here, except, its more like a "check in"
There are a lot of times that I just want to get something off my chest or simply say how I am feeling that day but I don't want to create a new thread, so I came up with this idea.
I don't know if anyone thinks this is a good (or bad) idea, or if someone has a better idea than me.
a "check in" doesn't even have to be about Crohn's, it can be about what ever is going on with you that day. Interested??

So, I will start :
Its 5 am, and I haven't' gone to bed yet. Right now, I am almost pain free and too excited to be pain free to sleep. I was laying in bed and I was trying to think of a word to explain how I felt. I felt FREE.There is no better way to describe it. And there is also no better feeling

On another note, I get to bring my puppy home on Sunday, we decided on the name Apollo, but we are under the understanding that if my boyfriend can change it when we meet him. I am 100% positive I will post a million pictures of him when I get the chance on Sunday

I had five setons put in a week ago and did the TB test and blood work yesterday before starting Remicade.I know this did not happen today,so why mention it in a 'today' post?

Today I am nauseous from the cipro,like every day since taking it.I guess you can say I have morning sickness. Today starts like every other day in other ways too.I have hope and determination.We'll see how long that lasts.

I suppose I could of made this shorter and said "I feel hopeful today".I physically(emotionally) feel like crap,but I will keep the faith and put up the good fight.

More importantly,I want to see pics of your Puppy! My dogs just came over and slobbered me,what timing.H,m,m,m...are they reading over my shoulder and saw I want to see your puppy pics? I love my beasties,they are so good to me and make dealing with EVERYTHING a little easier.

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"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."

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Crohns for 26 years
Previous meds: Pentasa, Imuran
Current meds:
Humira weekly
- multi vitamin and vitamin D
- B12 shots monthly
Mother of one beautiful boy and a puppy! 👪🐶Happily married to an amazing and patient man, that I call my best friend❤️I'm just living life one day at a time and trying to figure out this crazy disease! 🍀🌞⭐️

I am fatigued today and its really bad. Will do my best and drag myself to the bathroom soon to take a bath and try to get out of the flat.
Nice to feel free, cant remember the last time I enjoyed such a feeling, good for you. Nice you are getting dogs, will be fun

Dipping is "snuff" or other tobacco products you "dip" or "pinch" out of a little tin which guys (and yes, some older generation women still) stick in between their gum and cheek. "Smokeless Tobacco" if you will.

Feeling amazingly better since I started on Apriso only four days ago. Can it happen that quickly? Wow. No more gurgling and fireworks going off in my gut. Thinking at first maybe the Miralax was doing it (had never had to take any kind of laxative before in my life) until the past couple months. Insane. So now wondering if it's the Apriso or dc'ing the Miralax. Should get it figured out soon enough.

Afidz… lovely to hear your were enjoying a pain free night. Hope there are more to come.

Today is a good day . I get my grandson today and we are going to see my grandmother. She isn't doing very well. So she will be happy to see us. As far as my health goes , I had my scope yesterday and got the best resuls in years. I do have some inflammation and hemorrhoids, which are bothering me today. But overall I feel great.

Terrific! I have been doing a lot of purging of old files the last few days, so reading about how ill I was three to four years ago compared to how well I am now (despite some rather severe spinal issues the past six months) has reminded me how fortunate I am for my improved health.

However, I am aware that many on the forum are currently struggling and I remember when I was the one who was struggling how difficult it was to be hopeful every day for an improvement in my health.

So many responses already, so I guess it wasn't a bad idea after all. I might change this into a support group kind of thing, but I am not sure yet.
Dave13 - your avatar is of your dog I am assuming, what kind of dog do you have? We have a Border Collie/ Pitt Bull mix and a cat, and after tomorrow we will have an English Mastiff.

I'm feeling extremely fatigued today. Could be from my constant low blood pressure or could be nutrient related or something else or a combination of things.

I need to go to the library today to print out directions to see my new GI/second opinion down in UCLA (going on the 24th this month). I plan on talking about what my GI had said to me, "do you feel you can live like this?" I don't think that's acceptable. There has to be a treatment out there that works for me and doesn't make me more sick than I was before. I don't want to trade one problem for another. I'll also be talking to them about becoming pregnant in the near future as my husband and I want to start a family after we move to Florida (hopefully we'll be moving this year). So I need to be healthy by then and I need a treatment plan during that time and before I decide to become pregnant.

I'm also sore from taking care of my grandpa yesterday. I was doing physical therapy with him (just arm pulls that he does himself by lifting up his left arm with his right). He tried to kick me because he caused mild pain to himself while stretching his left shoulder. He doesn't understand that PT can hurt but it's important to learn your limits so you can start working past them to improve. It's frustrating and I hate being on edge waiting to get hit or kicked or bit when I get near him (he would be forced into a home if he did harm me). I always do my best to stay out of his reach but sometimes that's impossible. All of my joints hurt after caring for him. Could be another reason why I'm drained today but lately I'm always tired anyway.

jnette- I don't doubt that the apriso is already working, I felt a difference with Humira with in hours of starting it and slept like a baby that night. I'm glad you found something that worked!
Krika- I know the feeling- I haven't left my house since Wednesday. I just want to sleep and bum around in my pajamas
poopaholic- Great to hear about your scope! I hope you have a great day with your grandson!
Happy- I think its important for everyone to think back to worse times, to remind them how far they have come, thanks for sharing that.
Jennifer- Do you think you are in need of another resection? I hope not

My current GI mentioned balloon dilation as he believes I'm only dealing with scar tissue from my past surgery so I'll talk to her about that as well. It's possible I'll have to go back down there in case she wants to do a scope herself or maybe she'll just make a decision based off of imaging tests (even though the MRE I had didn't even show my my resection scar). All of my imaging tests seem to look perfectly fine yet I do have recurring partial obstruction symptoms which started a little over a year ago after I was hospitalized for an obstruction.

Afidz, I wish I could post pictures of my dog Igor. He is a English Bulldog .His full name is Igor Runt Monster and believe me he lives up to his name. My computer is broken and I am using my phone only.I tried to post pictures but I need to resize them I guess. Don't really know I am not the most computer savey person anyway.

Adfiz - so great to hear you got some relief from the pain, hoping this has meant you got some well deserved rest too? Can't wait to see pictures of your new puppy, he sounds like he is such a cutie!

Jennifer - sorry you're still in so much pain and possibly heading towards surgery again, I hope that you get some answers from your second opinion that will help you feel better soon. I'm also sorry to hear that things are still hard with your grandpa, you've done so much for your family, you're an amazing person.

Myself, I'm exhausted. I went shopping with my parents today and we took my grandmother, took about two hours to get around the store. I've been really tired lately and some days have really struggled, I feel like I've been back at square one. It's only been just over a year from my surgery, but I was never given maintenance medication, so crohns is back to bite me. I'm starting to feel more optimistic now though, although today tired me out, it wasn't as much as a struggle as it would of been a few days ago and I feel confident in my new IBD team. They are so much better than the one I used to have, and I feel confident that this time around, I will get on top of this, I will get the treatment I need and deserve and I won't let it beat me.

Because the consultant I was previously under was clearly clueless. He usually treats liver patients and went as far as to tell me that my crohns 'would never come back ' so I didn't get meds. In fairness to him, when I was really sick when I was diagnosed he really helped me, but after my surgery he seemed to think I was cured, and became rather less helpful. I just don't think he knew enough about IBD. My pathology from surgery wasn't 'crohns typical ' but the lab said they could not rule it out, and the top UK specialist said that there was most likely crohns there, just the appearance had changed due to steroids and previous anti inflammatory drug use (due to joint pain as a young teen, before any tummy trouble) . That consultant was basically just there to keep an eye on me. The IBD specialist that was supposed to see me only sees me once a year and never remembers me so it's really hard to get consistent treatment.

At the end of June my GP sent me into hospital because she wasn't happy with the way things were going, as I was developing a dangerously high heart rate (144). When I was in there I was under a different team, who are 100% better, and I am now staying under their care, and getting scoped in the near future to see how bad things are inside.

I have felt like posting on the forum for a while but haven't been able to have the courage to do so. I am struggling at the moment I feel stuck and don't know what to do. I am currently on cimzia but not doing all that well. Don't get me wrong I am no where near as bad as I was but I still don't feel right. I am really feeling surgery is the next step for me but as me and my partner are trying for a child at the moment I am just hanging in there and hoping that it happens sooner rather than later. Mentally I am not feeling well but I don't know what can help me. My thoughts are sometimes confused and make me feel like I can't breathe through it all. I can't even count the amount of times I have written something on the forum just to delete it all.
Sorry this is so muddled I really can't get my thought straight

I'm not feeling great today. Nausea/pain again!! My hubby has gone to see his dad who was put in hospice (which is only being done 1/2 way) on Friday so this could go on for awhile. I have felt really bad as he has had to make the 5 hour trip all by himself every couple of weeks since March as I'm not up to making the trip with being so sick. I feel really bad for him but he has 3 younger sibblings that still live there. Mentally this is bringing me down - he and his family understand my situation and are supportive but I hate that I'm not there as a shoulder for him to cry on. When he comes home, he finally lets it go - it's so hard!! I try and not show how bad I feel because he is getting ready to lose his father.

I went into town to run an errand.Outside the store,near where I parked,a mason was doing stonework.While I checked out the wall he was building he noticed my t-shirt.It had a brook,rainbow and brown trout on it.He said he loves trout fishing and wanted to buy my shirt.I figured he was kidding.He took a twenty out of his wallet.He gave me the twenty and I gave him my t-shirt.I had a sweatshirt with me in the car to put on.

That was a first for me.I think I paid 5 dollars for it,like ten years ago.Interesting way to start the day.

I just went over my notebook journals from over the past six months. And I had no idea I was that sick until I read through them and was reminded. I went through hell and back! It's like my brain has an eraser as a defensive mechanism or something. Anyway, all that to say, we Crohnies are tougher than we might get credit for. As it's been said, "If God never gives us more than we can handle, I must be a bad ass"!

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Nothing left to do, nothing left to prove, nothing left to say.

:HUG: Kayleigh, have you thought about going to therapy or finding a local support group? It sounds like you really need to talk things out, pm me if you want, I'm always available to talk

Well, its 4 am now. I am nauseous and constipated, and I don't think bedtime is anywhere in sight. I was talking to another member online a few days ago, and I think I have come to the conclusion that I am afraid to sleep. Sleeping is by far the most painful activity of my day. Why fall asleep just to wake up screaming and crying? I am going to the GI on Tuesday, I am going to ask him about a whole mess of things, the insomnia being a big topic. Hope everyone has a good day!

Dave13 - your avatar is of your dog I am assuming, what kind of dog do you have? We have a Border Collie/ Pitt Bull mix and a cat, and after tomorrow we will have an English Mastiff.

My avatar is Dobby.She is a German Shepherd and my biggest supporter.She is a petite 85 lbs.Her 'brother' Bruce helps a me a bunch too.Bruce is 2.5 years old,a rottweiler/shepherd cross.He is a 141 lb.goober.He is the friendliest dog you can meet.I get asked often if he is part Mastiff.He has the bulk of a rotti and the height and length of a shepherd.Amazingly graceful for such a big dog(most of the time).

They are both rescue dogs.They couldn't be bonded more than if they were litter mates.

Glad to hear some are having good days! Had a painful nauseas day yesterday and last night. Still continuing today. I really don't want to go to the ER and get IV Pred cause I know that's what will happen. Trying to wait it out.....

Today I am feeling depressed. I have many physical disabilities, including the Ulcerative Colitis. I was diagnosed in 2006 but have had diarrhea since 1997. Why does it take doctors so long to figure things out ! Anyhow, I have had diarrhea since 1997 and then three months ago I started to have severe constipation. Until I got on this website I did not even know that constipation was also a symptom of Ulcerative Colitis ! I guess I have to learn more about my disease. I have had 2 colonoscopies over the past 8 years. I have been on Asacol and now I am taking Lialda each day. I find that I am fatigued and tired and exhausted all of the time. I have other physical disabilities also, too many to list on this post. I see that many folks on this website have been taking a lot of strong drugs to help control their disease and they have had surgeries too. I have not had to tackle those issues at this time. I am new to this website, I am still trying to figure out how to maneuver around to the different forums.

Thanks afidz and sending hugs to you too. I have been to a support group for chronic illness before but I was the youngest there, it would have been nice to be with people around my age and maybe with similar issues. Also as I introduced myself some dick (sorry about the language but it still makes me angry now) interrupted me with the usual ' I know someone with that and they did this and now they're fine'. It's one of those moments I wish I could go back in time and tell him what I really think but at that point I just froze out of shock. I have tried therapy before when I was in college and the person I saw wasn't that great. I get nervous and over analyse everything that I say so I just shut off everyone and everything and get stuck in a bit of a rut emotionally. Thank you and everyone on this forum for the support it really means so much and has helped me process more of my thoughts and what I can do next.
Anyway I have waffled on enough so I will leave it there for now. X

Today is not a good day. Am waiting for my Gastroenterologist to call me and let me know when I can get in to see him. On Friday my family doctor told me that he didn't think I was going to be able to take Humira either. Am a little concerned as my specialist told me that was pretty much the last hurrah unless a study drug came along - so while I'm in full flare (for the past 2.5 years) there's no other drugs to treat me? Really - WTH is that (excuse the language). Imuran caused pancreatitis and my gall bladder to become infected and inflamed, Remicade caused serum sickness and my family doctor thinks the Humira is doing the same thing. I suddenly have arthritis that I didn't have before and am not sure what to do about that either - grumpy, grumpy, grumpy.....

Grumpy1 is really just because I like the dwarf from sleeping beauty but today I give new meaning to the name.